There are numerous configurations of trailers and caravans current on the market that provide portable accommodation or that provide the means for transporting equipment, such as tents, recreation vehicles and boats. Towable accommodation in the form of camper trailers, caravans, campers, towable RVs and tent trailers are widely used in Australia and the USA.
There are also trailers that allow for the transportation of recreational vehicles, such as quad bikes, which also include a sleeping cubicle or sealed compartment for storing bedding.
All of these types of trailers or mobile accommodation units, typically comprise a chassis supported on wheels connected to a respective axle or independent suspension, a drawbar connectable to a towing vehicle and a body fixedly attached to the chassis.
Many of the trailers and caravans currently on the market include awnings that are configured to provide additional covered living space. Furthermore, there are a number of caravans and campers that include expandable body portions to provide an enlargeable internal living space such as the units disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,749 to Counsel, and U.S. Pat. No. 9,597,993 to Pellicer. These expandable body portions typically include a slidable portion that can be slid outwardly when on site and then stored away during transport.
Existing expandable body portions are however typically configured to retract into the internal space of the caravan or camper trailers, which means that they can impinge upon the existing structures within the caravan or can make packing of the trailer or caravan problematic.
En-suite caravans have become popular in recent times. However, such caravans are typically larger in length thereby affecting off-road ability and requiring the towing vehicle to have sufficient towing capacity. Alternatively, an en-suite tent can be attached to a side of a camper trailer or caravan, however these typically cannot be accessed from the interior of the tailer or caravan and accordingly lack privacy. Furthermore, such en-suite tents cannot be used at many caravan or trailer park sites since they do not capture or at least direct the grey water in a controlled fashion.
The phase ‘towable accommodation or storage assembly’ used throughout the specification should be understood to include any type of towable vehicle including, but not limited to, on-road camper trailers, on-road caravans, off-road camper trailers, off-road caravans, tent trailers, RV's, motorhomes, haulage trailers, mobile homes, caravanettes, goods trailers, flatbed trailers, tradesman trailers, storage trailers, car carriers, boat trailer, horse floats or any other type of towable vehicle having a drawbar.
It should be appreciated that any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification is included solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention and should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art was widely known or formed part of the common general knowledge in the field as it existed before the priority date of the application.